Treatment of fabrics



Kill

fPatented Apr. 26, 1938 "TREATMENT OF FABRICS William H.

Ira Jones, Wilmette, 111., assignors to Alton, New York, N. Y., and Hilton lRtT.

Vanderbilt 00., Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York No Drawing. Application May 13, 1935, Serial No. 2 1,272

4 Claims.

This invention relates to the treatment of textiles and has as its main object the formation on the fibres of a finishing or filling which will not be removed by ordinary laundering, which will not be liable to mold or to bacterial action, which may leave the fabric soft and which will not cause change in color of white fabrics.

Finishing materials used in the manufacture of silk and cotton fabrics vary greatly in composition according to the effect and appearance desired. In the case of silks and rayons the finish has been formed by drawing the fabric through a weal: solution of gums and oils and then through squeeze rolls to expel excess moisture.

The fabric is then dried and calendered by ap propriate means. In the case of cotton there has been employed starch varying from a thin starch water to a thick paste applied to the back surface of a fabric printed in colors. The same type of filling has been used with open mesh fabrics, such as'cheese cloth, in order to substantially close,

the pores thereof and better adapt the cheese cloth for use in the manufacture of bags for the transportation of flour, cereals and fine powders. There has also been used pulverized minerals, such as. tales and clays combined with waxes in proper proportion, and in combination with starches so as to give the desired filling or finishing and impart pliabillty. All such fillings with which we are familiar have proved defective in that they washout when the fabric is laundered, thus leaving the fabric sleazy, or imparting undesirable color to the fabric, or leaving it defective or objectionable in other respects.

Rubber has been employed as a filling material, but as ordinarily used renders the fabric nonabsorptive and changes the desired characteristics of the fabric.

We have discovered a new and successful methad of utilizing rubber as an adhesive in the-filling and finishing of textile fabrics, yarns, textile fibres and the like, which will leave the fabric porous and absorptive and which will remain in place after laundering, and does not include as any essential part any starches, gums or other ingredients which are liable to mold and to bacterial action.

As an essential feature of our invention there is employed a colloidal suspension of latex and bentonite.

in the preferred method of carrying out theinvention the crude rubber is applied directly to the fabric while in very minute dispersion in globular form in the latex, and so restrained andcontrolled in quantity as to leave interstices between the globules thereby permitting ventilation through the fabric and absorptiveness by the fabric. This result is obtained by emulsifying latex with bentonite clay, the mixture being so formed that the minute crude rubber globules in the latex are apparently enveloped and kept separate from, each other by the bcntonite so that the rubber globules in the further treatment do not agglomerate or unite into any continuous sheet or film. The suspension is believed to have the rubber in an internal phase, that is, the globules are surrounded by bentonite, rather than in an external phase, that is, the bentonlte distributed through or encompassed by the rubber.

To the emulsion or paste pigments or dyes may be added and there may be added a soluble soap which is rendered insoluble in a later treatment of the fabric.

So far as concerns the present invention we do not desire to be restricted to any particular preliminary treatment of the bentonite although it is preferable that the bentonite be entirely freed from any gritty matter so as to prevent injury to the textile machinery. It has been discovered that the bentonite may be freed from such gritty matter and without the usual grinding or pulverization, such as heretofore employed in the preparation of bentonite for various purposes. We have discovered that by allowing the bentonite to soalr in water until thoroughly peptonized and gelatinous and by then forcing it through a screen as fine as 200 mesh at a consistency of 10 to 20% solids, all the gritty matter may be removed on the screen and the colloidal product will pass through for recovery and use.

We do not desire to be restricted to any specific relative proportions of bentonite and rubber latex as these will vary according to the character of the material treated and the specific properties which it is desired to impart to the fabric. it

is important that the proportion of latex to bentonite should not be so large that the rubber particles, of the latex will come together and coagulate as a continuous rubber body or layer with the bentonite therein, and the amount of latex in respect to the bentonite should be sufficient to insure the proper retention of the bentonite in the layer on the fabric and prevent it from being readily removed by abrasion.

The latex and the bentonite may be employed as a thin suspension or emulsion with or without pigment and by the addition of the required amount of water, or it may be applied as a thick paste. I

The precipitation and curing of the rubber may be completed by the dryingof the fabric either at atmospheric temperature or bythe application of heat, or the precipitation and curing may be eflected in a subsequent bath by chemical precipitation.

In all other methods with which we are familiar the rubber latex requires to be combined with sulfur, curative, dispersive or accelerative agents before application, in order to prevent it from remaining sticky or oxidizing or from. becoming sticky or brittle in course of time after it hasv been applied. These various curative agents discolor the latex and render it entirely unfit for use on a white fabric, whereas by means of our method the globules of rubber are apparently separated and cured by the action of the,

Bentonite slip, 17% solids 54 Water 11 Rubberv latex-35% solids 18 It will be noted that in this example the hentonite by dry weight is 9.18 parts and the amount of rubber solids is 6.3 parts. Thus the amount of rubber latex is about twice the amount of the dry bentonite, and the amount of rubber solids is a little over two-thirds theamount of dry bentonite.

Where it is considered expedient to further stabilize the emulsion there may be added solution of coconut oil soap or other similar white,

soap which will not chemically change upon ordinary exposure to light, air or ordinary heat,-

such as employed in laundering. Where such soap is used it is desirable to incorporate it in the emulsion so that it, together with the bentonite and rubber, is precipitated on or applied to the fabric before drying.

To give to the fabric a water repellent finish the fabric before drying may be subjected to a second bath or treatment which will render the soap insoluble. Such a second bath may include 20% of rare earth acetate orfuorate 10 parts, 30% solution of aluminum formate or acetate 5 parts, and water85 parts. The last mentioned bath will serve not only to render the soap insoluble, but will act to precipitate the rubber. To prevent any precipitation in the emulsion the bentonite should be on the alkaline side rather than of an acid character.

The bentonite and latex may be mixed together in various ways and certain agitation or stirring during mixing is permissible, but it has been found that excessive agitation may in some cases tend to cause the rubber globules to unite into agglomerates or curds and thus prevent or interfere with the desired uniform distribution of the rubber together with the bentonite on the fabric. If itis desired that the pores of the fabric be wholly or-substantially closed this result may be accomplished by increasing the proportion of latex in respect to the bentonite and/or by applying the emulsion as a paste and in a thicker layer. 7

For back filling of print goods or for the treatmerit of various other types of fabrics the proportion of latex to bentonite may be about 1 to 3, and the solution or paste may be applied sufficiently thin so that the minute rubber globules and the bentonite adhere to the fibres or threads of the fabric and do not close the pores ,so as to prevent ventilation through the fabric and to render it non-absorptive.

The filling, coating or finishing after being applied to the fabric and after being dried will firmly adhere to the fibres so that it will not be v washing.

removed by rubbing, wrinkling or ordinary abrasion and is insoluble so that it is not removed in ordinary washing. By proper selection of the bentonite, the coating or finishing may have a pure white color and thus may be applied to By the term "fabric" there i's,included not only' ordinary woven, knitted, netted or other materials made from vegetable or animal fibre, but also the threads, yarns and-the like employed in the manufacture of such fabrics.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. The method of finishing a fabric, which includes treating it with a substantially homogeneous water emulsion of bentonite free from gritty particles which will not pass a 200-mesh screen, and rubber latex, the rubber of the latex being in discrete particles separated by bentonite, and effecting the deposition of the solids of the suspension on the fabric by the removal of the water, whereby the latex retains the bentonite in the fabric and prevents removal by' rubber latex (35% solids) being at least one-third the amount of bentonite slip having 17% solids,

and effecting the deposition of the solids of the suspension on the fabric by the removal of the water, whereby the latex retains the hentonite in the fabric and prevents removal by.

friction or ordinary washing.

3. The method of treating a fabric to give body thereto, which includes wetting the fabric in a water suspension of bentonite, rubber latex and soap, the particles of rubber being separated and uniformly distributed throughout the suspension, thereafter wetting the fabric with a salt of a rare earth, and thereafter treating the fabric to form a flexible body in which the latex prevents removalv of the bentonite during wrinkling, rubbingor ordinary washing.

4. The method of treating a fabric togive body thereto, which includes wetting the fabric in a water suspension of bentonite, rubber latex and soap, the particles of rubber being separated and uniformly distributed throughout the suspension, thereafter wetting the fabric with a solution of aluminum-formate or acetate, and thereafter treating the fabric to form a flexible body in which the latex prevents removal of the bentonite during wrinkling, rubbing or ordinary WILLIAM H. ALTON. HILTON IRA JONES. 

